Winds of Change.NET: Conspiracy and Truth Week

Conspiracy and Truth Week

by Joe Katzman at April 25, 2003 2:50 PM

Looks like Conspiracy and Truth Week here at Winds of Change.NET. From Armed Liberal's Unsettling Dinner and its comments section, to the follow-up covering conspiracy theories generally, to Celeste's post on the one about the CIA and crack cocaine in L.A. That one wasn't funny, but the Jewish Sex Gum conspiracy meme was.

On the side of truth and consequences, entries include Trent's piece about SARS in China and the costs of organized lying, Laughing Wolf's follow-up on CNN and honesty in the media, and Armed Liberal's post about the link underlying them all. Meanwhile, Sina Motallebi is arrested in Iran, where the truth is a conspiracy as far as the government is concerned.

M. Simon would say his police officer interview and today's Guest Blog piece about the War on Drugs debunk their own set of myths; we'll let you make up your own minds.

Just when we thought it was all over, the real bomb drops yesterday: Aziz Poonawalla's slippery defense of his "Anti-Arab genetic bioweapons" claim, aimed at the Israelis without serious evidence (some might say: in the face of impossibility) and fitting patterns of organized hatred straight out of Medieval times, was a depressing episode. All the more depressing in that it seemed to fit so well into the patterns we've been discussing.

Intelligent people can say of believe foolish things, and it's worth engaging people you respect if the belief in question has serious implications. This one did... and the fallout is serious too.

Speculation about motives is a poor approach, but argument style and structure are legitimate grounds for critique. Beyond my issues with the truth of his claims, Aziz' very mode of argument is deeply dishonest.

I won't tolerate a debating style where any accusation can be made, however outrageous, with no serious evidence but with the expectation that it will be taken seriously and treated as a topic for moral debate (even condemnation, whic Aziz did ask for) as if it were true. Then the next invented charge is brought out, of course, and the pattern continues in this vein. That's the game. By accepting those terms, one makes the charges themselves seem respectable and true... and they're neither.

I won't play that game. And I don't respect or trust people who invite me to do so.

Fittingly, I'll give Armed Liberal the last word here:

"If someone can show me that any country - the U.S., Israel, Iraq, or whoever - is seriously researching or planning for development or deployment of a WMG [weapon of mass genocide], then we have something to talk about.

Otherwise it is a racist fantasy - both from the POV of those who would consider it and deliver their fantasy of a racially-pure world, and from the point of view of those who use the possibility of it as a rhetorical weapon to smear a race.

It's damn hard to respond to that. And my interest in particpating in a racist discussion - on either side - is pretty low."

UPDATE: Porphyrogenitus says yesterday wasn't the first time Aziz has used this approach. That said, if folks are considering emailing Aziz to express their displeasure, please don't. It serves no-one; at best, it will waste your time.

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